Community garden gets green light from council
By James Wynn
Staff Writer

Lander soon will have a public garden to call its own, after the Lander City Council voted unanimously to go ahead with plans for a community garden.
The community garden began as a concept between the City of Lander and Sustainable Lives earlier this spring.
According to Karl Sutton, program director for Sustainable Lives, the idea of a community garden began after community resources development coordinator Gary Michaud saw the results of a survey. That survey, done by the Care and Share Food Bank, found that clients of the food bank expressed a wish to have a garden to help supplement their food.
After discussions with the city council, city-owned space was found at the intersection of Amoretti Street and Evergreen Lane.
Originally designated a bird sanctuary, the treeless, empty lot has gone unused in any official capacity for a number of years.
Sutton’s plans for the garden included large plots for both root and row crops, a greenhouse and spaces for the community plots.
Sutton also had secured a $1,000 grant from the Popo Agie Conservation District to purchase 10 apple trees, as well as plum and currant bushes to be used both as fruit-bearing plants and barrier landscaping.
The food grown in the row and root crop areas of the garden would be available for sale back to the community.
The idea would be to sell the crops at the farmer’s market and put the money back into the community garden.
Sutton met with council members April 1 during their regularly scheduled public work session to present the project to the council.
Both the council and mayor expressed interest in the project, going so far as to offer support in both donating the land the garden would be located on and the water the garden will need.
When the resolution came before the council during a regularly scheduled public meeting one week later, no opposition or concern was voiced by the public, and the resolution passed unanimously.
Opposition to the garden however came shortly after. Residents in the area of the garden expressed dismay that the first they had heard of the garden came after a story was published in the Lander Journal, despite agendas and minutes for council meetings being available to the public.
Concerns about the garden became numerous enough for Michaud to hold a special meeting to give council members a chance to hear those concerns, and to allow the garden board a chance to respond.
Some concerns raised by residents in the area included an increase in traffic along Amoretti Street, a worry that building a community garden on an empty lot would take away play space for children, and concerns that tax dollars would go to fund the garden, in the way of the city-donated water.
One local resident raised concern that the garden would increase the chance for West Nile Virus infection.
Another, although not opposed to the idea of a community garden in theory, was concerned by the way that those owning property adjacent to or in the direct locale of the proposed garden were notified.
That discussion gave council members a chance to address concerns, as well as hear how those involved in the community garden planned to unfold their idea.
During the council meeting on May 27, the garden came up for discussion again.
When Lander Mayor Mick Wolfe asked if there were any comments from the public, no one stepped forward.
Council president Buddy Spriggs took a moment to voice his support for the garden.
“I think this would be a good opportunity for the community,” he said. “Especially after all the comments during the community assessment concerning community sustainability.”
When called upon to vote, the council returned a unanimous vote in favor of upholding the resolution toward the community garden as it stands.